Lading strap anchor



Aug. 12, 1958 R. E. CALE LADING STRAP ANCHOR Filed Sept. 6, 1955 IN VEN TOR. Pol-A ND 5 Cams:

LADING STRAP ANCHOR Roland E. Cale, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Schaefer Equipment Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application September 6, 1955, Serial No. 532,707

4 Claims. (Cl. 105-369) This invention relates to anchoring devices, and more particularly to lading strap anchors for railway cars, trucks, ships and airplanes.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a lading strap anchor which can be swiveled into any position, which will exert a uniform strain across the strap, which will not protrude beyond the inner sidewall of the vehicle when not in use, and which is sturdy and easy to make and install.

In accordance with this invention a retaining member is secured in a substantially vertical position to the sidewall of a railway car or the like. The retaining member is provided with an opening extending horizontally through it. A stirrup, the lower end having a lading strap-receiving slot, hangs from the retaining member. The upper end of the shank of the stirrup extends through the opening in that member and is retained in it so that the stirrup can be swiveled in the member to permit the slotted end of the stirrup to be swung up away from the wall and also sideways.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a front view of the lading strap anchor attached to the inside of a railway car or the like;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on line 11-11 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line IIIIII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a front view of a modification; and

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken on the line V-V of Fig. 4.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings, an upright etaining member, forming part of my lading strap mchor, is held in position in a manner that will be de- :cribed presently. The exposed face of this member is t narrow metal plate 1 that may be the web of a vertical :hannel. At vertically spaced intervals the plate is pro 'ided with openings through it for receiving the upper :nds of stirrups 2. Each of these openings is encircled y a vertical ring, which can be forged integrally with he plate but preferably is a separate element 3 welded o the plate. The ring is round in cross section and the 'lane of its outer surface most suitably is flush with the uter surface of the plate, as shown in Fig. 3, so that the tirrups will hang down against the plate.

The shank 4 of each stirrup is cylindrical and its upper nd is bent to form a hook that extends out through one f the rings 3. The shank can be retained in the ring 1 various ways, but a good way is to bend the hook down ehind the ring. In such a case the stirrup and ring iould be assembled before the ring is welded in place. referably, the diameter of the shank is nearly as great 3 the diameter of the hole in the ring so that the two t together rather snugly but without binding. The hook ortion of the shank has about the same curvature as re wall of the hole through the ring, thereby allowing 1e hook to slide around the ring when the lower end of re shank is swung out away from the retaining member.

2,846,958 Patented Aug. 12, 1958 ice The lower end of the stirrup is much wider than the rest of it and is provided with a transverse slot 5 for receiving a lading strap. The slot is long enough to receive the widest strap that is likely to be used, but a narrow strap may slide to one end or the other of the slot. If both walls of the slot are straight, the center of the outer or lower wall would be closer to the center of the ring than the end of that wall would be. A narrow strap having one edge near the center of the slot would pull against the stirrup only at that point and the concentration of strain would be likely to tear the strap. To avoid such a condition, the outer wall of the slot is curved in an are substantially concentric with the ring. Both edges of a narrow strap will therefore engage that Wall with uniform pressure, regardless of the position of the strap along the slot.

This strap anchor may be mounted in place in various ways. One way of doing it when the anchor is to be used in a freight car is to bend the edges of the channelshape retaining member outward away from each other to form flanges 6 that engage the inner surface of the outer metal sheets 7 forming the outside of the car. Where two sheets come together they can be welded to one of the flanges. Vertical wooden posts 8 are rigidly mounted on opposite sides of the retaining member for supporting the wood lining 9 of the car. The lining or :inner sidewall does not extend across the strap anchor,

of course, but it projects into the car a distance about equal to the thickness of the stirrups, as shown in Fig. 2. Consequently, when the stirrups are not in use, they do not protrude from the inner sidewall of the car.

A lading strap is connected to a stirrup by looping it through the stirrup slot, pulling it taut and then anchoring the end of the strap in any well known manner. This V will swing the stirrup out away from the side of the car so that the stirrup shank will extend in the same general direction as the strap. Depending on the position of the strap, the slotted end of the stirrup may be swung straight out away from the wall, or it may be swung out and sideways. In either position the stirrup may also be turned on the axis of the straight portion of its shank, as required. All of these movements or adjustments are permitted because of the universal or swivel connection between the stirrup and ring.

In some cases it is desirableto fasten the anchors to the outside of the car, such as a gondola car, and to extend the lading straps out over the sidewalls of the car. A strap anchor suitable for such a location, as well as for inside the car, is shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The retaining member is formed from a vertical plate 11 having integral flanges or legs 12 extending rearwardly from its opposite ends. The free ends of the legs are welded to the sidewall 13 of the car. The center of the plate is provided with an opening encircled by a ring 14 which is formed integrally with the rear surface of the plate. The stirrup 16, which is the same as the one previously described, hangs from the ring and can be swiveled in it. To permit the stirrup and retaining member to be assembled, at least one edge of the plate is rounded at 17 on the same radius as the ring body to permit the stirrup hook to be rotated around the ring and into the central opening. After the anchor is installed, the car wall prevents the stirrup from being swung back far enough to disengage it from the ring.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. A lading strap anchor for the sidewall of a railway car or the like, comprising a ring in a substantially vertical plane, the ring being round in radial section, an upright plate rigidly joined to the ring and rigidly secured to said sidewall, and a stirrup hanging from the ring and having a shank and a wide lower end provided with a strap-receiving slot, the upper end portion of the shank being substantially cylindrical and extending through the ring and curved down behind it, and the diameter of said cylindrical portion being nearly as great as the internal diameter of the ring, whereby the stirrup can be swiveled in the ring so that its slotted end can be swung up away from said wall and also sideways.

2. A lading strap anchor for the sidewall of a railway car or the like, comprising a ring in a substantially ver-' tical plane, means supporting the ring and rigidly secured to said sidewall, and a one-piece stirrup hanging from the ring substantially parallel to the wall, the stirrup having a shank and a wide lower end provided with a strap-receiving slot having a lower Wall curved in an are substantially concentric with the axis of said ring, the upper end of the shank being substantially cylindrical and hook shape and extending through the ring and down behind it, and the hook shape portion of the stirrup having an arcuate surface engaging a correspondingly arcuate surface of the ring.

3. A lading strap anchor for the sidewall of a railway car or the like, comprising a vertically positioned plate provided with an opening extending therethrough, integral legs extending rearwardly from opposite ends of the plate rigidly secured to said sidewall, a ring integral with said plate and coaxial with said opening, and a onepiece stirrup hanging from the ring substantially parallel to the wall, the stirrup having a shank and a wide lower end and provided with a strap-receiving slot, and the upper end of the shank being substantially cylindrical and extending back through the ring and down behind it to partly encompass an arcuate portion of the ring, whereby the stirrup can be swiveled in the ring, the stirrup-engaging portion of the ring being arcuate in radial section.

4. A lading strap anchor for a railway car or the like, comprising a ring that is round in radial section, a plate rigidly joined to the ring and secured to the inside of said car, and a stirrup having a shank and a strap-receiving end, the opposite end portion of the shank being substantially cylindrical and extending through the ring and being bent to partly encompass an arcuate portion of the ring to hold the stirrup therein, said opposite end portion of the shank being rotatable in the ring, and the diameter of said cylindrical portion being nearly as great as the internal diameter of the ring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 283,785 Howard Aug. 28, 1883 807,170 Holtzhouser Dec. 12, 1905 1,482,643 Etheridge Feb. 5, 1924 2,047,503 Wilson et a1, July 14, 1936 2,430,728 Mott Nov. 11, 1947 2,449,049 Black Sept. 14, 1948 2,449,300 Jones Sept. 14, 1948 2,609,761 Clark Sept. 9, 1952 2,716,383 Johnson Aug. 30, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 205,637 Great Britain Oct. 25, 1923 304,925 Great Britain Jan. 31, 1929 

